Swedish Flower Hen Thread

[KYTinpusher]

Ok SFH gurus, it is not normal for an SFH cockerel about 14 weeks to be aggressive, as in suddenly running at me and even grabbing my leg once? He was from a different breeder so was going to keep him but he may meet his maker tonite.

No, that is not the norm, but I had one that turned out mean. He was rather tasty.

 

[Bulldogma]

Ok SFH gurus, it is not normal for an SFH cockerel about 14 weeks to be aggressive, as in suddenly running at me and even grabbing my leg once? He was from a different breeder so was going to keep him but he may meet his maker tonite.

Did something scare him? I had a boy attack me after I traversed the chicken yard with a big, flapping tarp that I was going to put over one of the runs... it was a windy day and the tarp developed a life of its own.

I won't cull them if they have been honestly scared out of their skin by something I did, but it has to be up to you.

 

[dbarjacres]

No not a thing scared him. Just me walking around doing normal chores. I was wrong and he's only 12 weeks old. When I was rounding up the 7 younger birds to lock them up for the night he tried to peck me each time I put one in the pen. I'm thinking he is just a jerk. He came from 30 ebay eggs that only 2 hatched from and the other one had feathered legs, so maybe crossed with something aggressive. He is completely blue and getting some rust on his wings and hackles.

 

[TurnipTruck]

I'm starting to get anxious... my broody should be hatching out a clutch of SFH's next Monday and Tuesday. It is my first ever broody hatch, so I'm hoping for some good results.

I also have a friend who has a broody due to hatch at the same time, we are going to see if my hen will adopt so that she can get her hen back to laying sooner. The next week should be exciting.

Sorry to ramble here, but I had to express my excitement somewhere.

 

[KYTinpusher]

I'm starting to get anxious... my broody should be hatching out a clutch of SFH's next Monday and Tuesday. It is my first ever broody hatch, so I'm hoping for some good results.

I also have a friend who has a broody due to hatch at the same time, we are going to see if my hen will adopt so that she can get her hen back to laying sooner. The next week should be exciting.

Sorry to ramble here, but I had to express my excitement somewhere.

Good luck!

 

[FeyRaine]

Just out of the brooder yesterday - first 2 of my own sfh chicks
(#3 did hatch later)

2014 June 2 pure sfh chicks from Daisy's little pullet eggs:



Shortly after this the big storm blew in, took out Main Transmission lines to the county so we (& about 5,000 others) were out of electrical for about 12 hrs. The charcoal grill , (repeated) boiled water & a thin metal thermos kept the new hatched chicks warm overnight.

The incubator eggs (including the turkey sized ones from "Flo") went under a sitting broody, but I fear I waited too long to move them as they were stone cold when I opened the incubator and made the move. They were hot under the broody this am & are now back in the bator so I can candle tonight and see if they survived...

 

[KYTinpusher]

Just out of the brooder yesterday - first 2 of my own sfh chicks
(#3 did hatch later)

2014 June 2 pure sfh chicks from Daisy's little pullet eggs:



Shortly after this the big storm blew in, took out Main Transmission lines to the county so we (& about 5,000 others) were out of electrical for about 12 hrs. The charcoal grill , (repeated) boiled water & a thin metal thermos kept the new hatched chicks warm overnight.

The incubator eggs (including the turkey sized ones from "Flo") went under a sitting broody, but I fear I waited too long to move them as they were stone cold when I opened the incubator and made the move. They were hot under the broody this am & are now back in the bator so I can candle tonight and see if they survived...

I hope Flo's eggs hatch! I saw an idea a couple of years ago about dealing with power outages and incubator and brooder temps. Wrap a large potato or rock in tin foil and heat it on the grill until hot. Wrap in a towel and place in the brooder or incubator to keep it warm. Not an exact science, but helpful in an emergency.

 

[FeyRaine]

Actually not all the egg I had in the bator would fit under the Broody so I picked all the sfh eggs plus a could near to hatching age to make a doz. which I put on her pile.

There was a left over bakers doz. of mutt EE eggs in the bator equally stone cold at that point so I tried an idea I had based on an actual old time method -- I put a tea candle lit in a small ceramic potpurie terra cotta thing, then I set it down in a large casserole , I placed the eggs on a towel around the terra cotta thing and put the lib on the casserole slightly ajar to allow air in. It did not work nearly as well as I'd hoped, the temps. were not hot enough w/ just 1 candle flame. I put those eggs back in the bator this am anyway, just to continue the expiriement & I will candle them also tonight. I think some version of this setup would work, as I've been told of eggs being incubated this way in the past. I think I'll play around with it more to see if I can get a dependable setup for future situations.

 

[CackleJoy]

No not a thing scared him. Just me walking around doing normal chores. I was wrong and he's only 12 weeks old. When I was rounding up the 7 younger birds to lock them up for the night he tried to peck me each time I put one in the pen. I'm thinking he is just a jerk. He came from 30 ebay eggs that only 2 hatched from and the other one had feathered legs, so maybe crossed with something aggressive. He is completely blue and getting some rust on his wings and hackles.

Doesn't sound worth keeping does he?

Just out of the brooder yesterday - first 2 of my own sfh chicks
(#3 did hatch later)

2014 June 2 pure sfh chicks from Daisy's little pullet eggs:



Shortly after this the big storm blew in, took out Main Transmission lines to the county so we (& about 5,000 others) were out of electrical for about 12 hrs. The charcoal grill , (repeated) boiled water & a thin metal thermos kept the new hatched chicks warm overnight.

The incubator eggs (including the turkey sized ones from "Flo") went under a sitting broody, but I fear I waited too long to move them as they were stone cold when I opened the incubator and made the move. They were hot under the broody this am & are now back in the bator so I can candle tonight and see if they survived...

Oh I hope they survive and hatch for you!

 

[CackleJoy]

We are in the Central Valley of California where there is no humidity. Most days it is nose-bleed dry. People from the Midwest come visit and their skin starts to shed. It's really that dry. Without water my incubators will get down below 10% humidity.

Was thinking about my last bad hatch in a styrafoam bator and the humidity was about 20% in it during incubation. I had almost 100% full development in the eggs and only 3 hatched. The rest didn't even pip. They didn't drown because the humidity never got high. I bump it up to almost 50% during lock down and the hatching chicks take care of the rest. Told someone else about my bad hatch and they relayed their experience with full development (not SFH) and no pipping was due to the humidity being to low. When they raised their humidity during incubation and lock down, then the hatch rates went up.

Because we are in California, is it possible that I need to run the incubators a little more humid?

In my (first time use for me) wooden cabinet incubator I'm keeping the humidity between 27 and 35%. I plan to take 1/2 of this batch of set SFH eggs and put in the bottom and let them try hatching at an unchanged humidity. The other half I will put in a styrafoam bator to hatch and raise the humidity to 50%.

I know dry incubation is recommended but we have it much drier here than in some areas. Also, running the cabinet incubator I will have 4+ breeds in it. As far as I can tell the Basque and Cream Legbars will hatch in anything. I'm just wanting to make this work for the SFH!